Submarine mine



T. J. CAHILL.

' SUBMARINE MINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. H, 1920. 1,381,792. Patented June 14,1921;

A? y V b I g INVENTOR A TTORNE VS Zia ems cf 6417/14 AENT OFFICE.

. SUBMARINE MINE.

Specification of Lett r n Patented June 14, 1921.

Application filed April 17, 1920. Serial No. 374,650.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. CAHILL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphimin the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Submarine Mine, of which the following is'a full, clear, and exact description. 7

This invention relates to submarine contact mines.

The object of the invention is to provide for the preliminary handling of a submarine mine up to the time when the mine is submerged, and is intended to provide against premature explosion during the operation of handling and transporting the mine.

These submarine mines have automatic igniting devices, one or more, on their exposed surfaces; and to provide against premature explosion prior to the time of immersion, this improvement provides'for shielding the movable exploding device on the exterior of the mine case by covering the movable member with a concave section 'ofmetal of'sufficient rigidity to guard against operating theexploding device by such interference as it might meet with in transporting it and in immersing it.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure l is a complete View of a submarine mine showing an anchor chain held in position by strips of tissue paper, and also showing an exploding device in position on the exterior of the mine in section.

Fig. 2 shows a strip of tissue paper perforated at intervals;

Fig. 3 shows a modification of the mine, in which the mine and its exploding devices are all completely covered with a packing material, over which is a complete covering, preferably of paper, gathered and tied at the poles of the cylinder.

In Fig. l, the mine case is shown at 5. At 6, 6 loops or eyes are shown for making controlling attachment with the mine, as by a rope or chain; and it is to be noted that the anchor chain 7 is attached to one of these eyes. At 8 S are. shown movable igniting devices, such as employed to close normally open contact points and ignite the charge of explosive material located within the mine. This mine is of the ordinary and usual construction, and my improvements consist of a means for protecting the exploding device, sometimes called an igniting-device, against accidental disturbances durlng the preliminary stages of handling and prior to the act of immersion. Let us assume that the device 8 has a normally reciprocating motion when operated. There is provided a rigid, saucerlike thin sheet which is usually of metal like sheet metal, 9. This device 9 hasflanges l0, and its interior sur-,

face conforms to the arc-shaped form of the surface of the mine case. Such a device 9 1S- placed over each exposed movable igniting device, that is, the movable part 8 thereof, and is held in position by a series of convflexible materlal ll. f tissue paper is used volutio'ns of tissue pa er or other suitable it, will, of course, be necessary to wrap a" great number of convolutions or a great length of tape around the mine casing so that the tissue paper together with a soluble gum, which is employed to hold the paper aga nst the mine casing and the strips firmly together, will form a band of sufiicient strength to hold the cup-shaped guards securely in place over the movable igniting devices. Y

The tape is preferably providedwith' a plurality of rows of transverse perforations 12 along its length to accommodate the soluble gum and aid in a disintegration of the paper 11 after the mine is submerged; It is desirable to retain the anchor under control, that is to say, it must not slam around, and to guard against this slamming action, the anchor cable adjacent the anchor is held by the convolutions of paper tape. Any suitable gum or adhesive material, is applied to the paper, but this gum must be of a character that will dissolve under the action of water.

In Fig. 3, a modification of the mechanical means, one form of which has already been described, is sometimes'employed; this is a fabricpreferably cut into small sections like square patches. It is of greater mechanical endurance than the tissue paper 11, and is made to completely cover the mine 5 and to.

3 the outline of the mine is shown in dotted lines at 16, as is also'the dotted line ofrthe horn or igniting device 8.

In. Fig. 3 the packing'material is shown fromflmoisture until they are ready to be submerged.

In operation the guards are placed over the movable igniting devices, the strips of tape are applied to secure the guards against movement, andthe anchor cable is positioned under one or more strips of tape as shown in Fig.1. When themine is submerged the action of the water will dissolve the gum and also the paper at the points where it is provided with the perforations 12:so that the paper will fall away from the mine and the guards will, be permitted to fall away from the movable igniting devices and the name will be in operative position ready,

to be exploded upon the contact of an external object with the devices 8.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is:

mine having a movable exploding device projecting radially from the outer surface theerof, of a protecting device covering said exploding device, and soluble means for retaining said protectingdevice in position, whereby submersion of the mine releases said protecting device.

2. The combination with a submarine mine having a horn thereon, of a guard plate located over said horn, means for holding the guard plate in position, and means whereby submersion of-the mine automatically releases the guard plate.

3., The combination. with a submarine mine having a movable exploding device comprising a horn, of a guard plate over the horn, flexible devices holding the guard plate in position, and soluble gum holding the flexible devices together and in placeon the mine whereby submersion of the mine releases said guard plate.

7 4t. The combination with a submarine mine having a -movable exploding device, of a cup shaped guard plate located against the outer face of the mine and protecting said exploding device, a flange in the guard plate, a plurality of convolutions of tissue paper wrapped around said mine and over said flange holding the guard plate in position, said paper having transversely disposed rows of perforations throughout its length, and soluble gum filling the perforations and holding the paper against the mine whereby 1 the submersion of themine serves to'release .1. The combmation with a submarine the guard plate.

THOMAS J. CAHILL. 

